On speaking Spanish...

I studied Spanish rather extensively as an undergraduate. I wasn't a Spanish major, but I had enough coursework to qualify me for a minor (if I had attended a university which granted minors in Spanish). I spent a summer in Mexico, refining my skills and mastering the subjunctive (so tricky). While I hadn't spoken Spanish regularly in over a year and a half, I felt that it would just come right back whenever I landed in Lima. Wrong, or rather, incorrecto.

My first day or so I was pleasantly surprised with how it naturally flowed out of my mouth, words that I hadn't thought about in years magically sounding themselves. But after a couple of days, I reached a plateau. I got nervous when speaking to people, I forgot words and found myself constantly asking ¿Cómo se dice...? I would let my friends do the speaking because I just didn't want to deal with my broken Spanish.

Lucky for me, the Embassy provides Spanish classes free of charge. My second week I started attending three times a week with Maria Luisa and things seem to be going well. This week I am regaining my confidence. I guess I just needed a little time and review before I felt comfortable speaking again. The hardest part is actually not the speaking, but the listening. Some Peruvians have a tendency to mumble while speaking, which makes it so difficult to understand. Answering the telephone makes me so extremely nervous, but it's getting better.

I don't really know if there is a moral of the story here or anything... maybe it would be that one needs to practice a language a touch more before trying to speak it in a professional environment...

On a semi-related note: I've finally figured out the symbol shortcuts on my computer keyboard. I can finally make an ñ without going to 'insert symbol'!